Due to the longer lifespan and a more stressful lives, we are exposing our teeth to many more years of “crack inducing” habits, such as chewing on hard objects, clenching and grinding.  Our habits are making our teeth more susceptible to cracks?

Ever wondered, if your tooth is cracked?

What are the symptoms of a cracked tooth?  There are a variety of symptoms such as excruciating pain when chewing, possibly with release of biting pressure.  Pain everytime your tooth is exposed to temperature extremes, such as cold or hot.  Most of the time the pain usually come and go.  That is why dentist may have difficulty locating which tooth is causing the patient discomfort.

There are various types of cracked tooth.  The outcome of the treatment of your cracked tooth depends on the type, location and the extent of the crack.  The various types are:

• Craze Lines
• Fractured Cusp
• Cracked Tooth
• Split Tooth
• Vertical Root Fracture

Cracked tooth is not the same as a broken tooth.  The fracture is a cracked tooth will not heal.  Despite treatment, some cracks may continue to progress and separate.  This will result in loss of the tooth.  Your dentist will most probably recommend placement of a crown on a cracked tooth.  This will help in maximum protection but does not guarantee success in all cases.

Please bear in mind that the treatment you receive for your cracked tooth is very important.  It will relieve pain and reduce the worsening of your cracked tooth.  Once treated, most cracked tooth will continue to function and provide you years of comfortable chewing.

That’s why, it is recomended you visit an endodontist specialist instead of a general practitioner about your particular diagnosis and treatment recommendation.  The endodontist will be the best person to advise your on how to keep your natural teeth and achieve optimum dental health.

You can go to Dental Tips at My Toothcare Tips to contact an Endodontist.

Due to the longer lifespan and a more stressful lives, we are exposing our teeth to many more years of “crack inducing” habits, such as chewing on hard objects, clenching and grinding.  Our habits are making our teeth more susceptible to cracks?

Ever wondered, if your tooth is cracked?

What are the symptoms of a cracked tooth?  There are a variety of symptoms such as excruciating pain when chewing, possibly with release of biting pressure.  Pain everytime your tooth is exposed to temperature extremes, such as cold or hot.  Most of the time the pain usually come and go.  That is why dentist may have difficulty locating which tooth is causing the patient discomfort.

There are various types of cracked tooth.  The outcome of the treatment of your cracked tooth depends on the type, location and the extent of the crack.  The various types are:

• Craze Lines
• Fractured Cusp
• Cracked Tooth
• Split Tooth
• Vertical Root Fracture

Cracked tooth is not the same as a broken tooth.  The fracture is a cracked tooth will not heal.  Despite treatment, some cracks may continue to progress and separate.  This will result in loss of the tooth.  Your dentist will most probably recommend placement of a crown on a cracked tooth.  This will help in maximum protection but does not guarantee success in all cases.

Please bear in mind that the treatment you receive for your cracked tooth is very important.  It will relieve pain and reduce the worsening of your cracked tooth.  Once treated, most cracked tooth will continue to function and provide you years of comfortable chewing.

That’s why, it is recomended you visit an endodontist specialist instead of a general practitioner about your particular diagnosis and treatment recommendation.  The endodontist will be the best person to advise your on how to keep your natural teeth and achieve optimum dental health.

You can go to Dental Tips at My Toothcare Tips to contact an Endodontist.

You know, one of the most simple and important aspects of keeping healthy teeth and gums is simply cleaning them, there’s no great mystery or secret method to prevent toothache, all you need to do is keep your teeth and gums healthy.

When it comes to having good dental hygiene, you pretty much need to clean your teeth regularly, brushing twice a day is plenty, once in the morning and once before you go to sleep at night, this will help keep healthy teeth.

It’s not hard, just brushing your teeth twice a day and maybe three times if you want to brush after meals is going to help a lot, it only takes a few minutes to do and can have great benefits.

Now, if you have got to the stage in which you already have a toothache then there are home remedies you can use to ease the pain you are suffering, in this case it may actually be even more painful to brush as you are putting pressure on the sore tooth.

If you have a toothache or any sort of dental problem then you need to get in touch with a dentist and make an appointment for an examination as soon as you possibly can, dentists are the only people who can professionally examine and treat a toothache.

It is quite common to have to wait a while for a dentist appointment as they can be very busy, in this case you can try some home remedies such as:

* Hold ice over the sore tooth
* Hold raw onion over the sore tooth
* Hold whiskey in your mouth and swig it

These are just a few of the many home remedies you can use to relieve toothache pain.

The thing you need to realise though is that brushing your teeth and keeping good dental hygiene is very important, you may not even have toothache if you were doing so, remember to brush regularly and flossing can help too.

Get yourself a dentist appointment if any problems arise and get on track to having clean, healthy teeth and gums.

Treatment

The goals of treatment are elimination of the infection, preservation of the tooth, and prevention of complications.

Antibiotics are usually given to fight the infection. Warm salt-water rinses may be soothing. Pain relievers may relieve the toothache and fever. Do not place aspirin directly over the tooth or gums because this increases irritation of the tissues and can result in mouth ulcers.

Root canal therapy may be recommended in an attempt to preserve the tooth. The center of the tooth, including the nerve and vascular tissue (pulp), is removed along with decayed portions of the tooth. The root and surface of the tooth remain in place. The cavity that is created in the core is filled and repaired, and a crown may be placed over the tooth.

Surgical drainage of the abscess or extraction of the affected tooth may be necessary.

Outlook (Prognosis)

The infection of tooth abscess is usually curable with treatment.

Possible Complications

• Loss of the tooth
• Spread of infection to soft tissue
• Spread of infection to the jaw bone
• Spread of infection to other areas of the body resulting in brain abscess, endocarditis, pneumonia, or other disorders

Call your dentist if there is a persistent, throbbing toothache or other symptoms of tooth abscess occurs.

Prevention

Prompt treatment of dental caries reduces the risk of tooth abscess. Traumatized teeth should be examined promptly by the dentist.

You know the severe pain you will experience if you ever had an abscessed tooth.

So what is tooth abscess?  It is actually an infection to the tooth.  An abscess usually include pus, (live and dead bacteria, white blood cells or dead tissue) and swelling of the soft gum tissues surrounding a person’s tooth.  It is developed from tooth decay or tooth trauma, such as a broken or chipped tooth.  It there is an opening in the enamel of a tooth, usually in the form of a cavity, bacteria can get in and infect the center (our pulp) of the tooth and hence cause an abscess.  Infection may sometimes spread out from the root of the tooth to the bones supporting the tooth.  This will cause a painful toothache.  If the root of the tooth dies, the toothache may stop, but not the infection.  It remains active and continues to spread and destroy tissue.

Tooth decay is the destruction of the tooth structure.  It occurs when plague, a sticky substance that form on teeth, combine with starches and/or sugars of the foods that we eat.  The produces acids that attack tooth enamel.  Your dentist will advise you that the best way to prevent tooth decay is by brushing twice a day and flossing daily.

Eating healthy foods and avoid snacking and sugary drinks are also ways to prevent tooth decay.

When a tooth abscess  happens, the infection could spread throughout the mouth and body of a person.  A root canal is usually the ONLY option to save an abscessed tooth.